Earth Day leader warns of 'ecological bubble' - Portland Business Journal:

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The only solution is to take action toavoid it, said Denis Hayes, CEO of the Seattle-based . “Mothef Nature doesn’t do bailouts,” Hayes said durinv a keynote address at the PortlandBusiness Journal’s sustainability luncheon. “One day, Mother Nature shows up and blowws out yourknee caps.” Hayezs has forged a reputation as one of the country’s foremost environmental In 1970 he was the national coordinator for the firstr Earth Day, raising national awareness of environmentao causes by organizing rallies coast to coast.
He helped expanxd Earth Day to more than 180 Hayes also directed the federall during theCarter Administration, amongg other significant roles. The deteriorating environment — from perpetuao droughts, to expanding deserts, to depleted aquifer — has led to an underlyingv ecological bubble that is threatenintgto burst, with ramifications far worsse than any economic bubble. The costs of the he said, would far surpass the global grossdomestifc product. But there are ways to stop it, he including areas in whicgh Oregon could takethe lead. That includes puttingg an end to a culture of where consumers buy productss designed to be replaced withinn afew years.
“Planned obsolescence has been an essential part ofthe economy,” Hayes said. “I don’t want an economgy that requires me to get rid of a perfectlhy good pair shoes in orderto Therefore, a new model must be conceiver to help people learn a new way of earning a so that jobs are no longer reliant upon the replacement of thinge that should last. Along thoswe lines, he endorsed the concept of a “progressivs consumptive tax,” where instead of taxint income, governments would tax basefd on how much someone Hayes also endorsed the use of a carbo regulation system that would be a hybridrof cap-and-trade and carbohn tax models.
His idea centers arouns a scientifically determined cap on carbom emissions that employs an auction systen for deployingcarbon offsets. While acknowledging that much of his messageseemerd dire, Hayes said there will be no succesw without a shred of optimism. “Iv you aren’t hopeful,” he said, “then you don’y have a chance.” The luncheon honored three local companiews for innovationsin sustainability: Forest Grove-based , Stayton-based and Brooks-basef

Target to showcase video games at E3 - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:

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For the first time, the Minneapolis-based retail giant is participatin in the Electronic Entertainment held in Los Angeles from Tuesday through The expo is taking place at a time when the industry is struggling with the effects of aglobap recession, as well as cheap gamingt alternatives that are available on the Internet and over mobils devices. Still, the event is expecter to draw 40,000 attendees, a big uptick from last year, when E3 scaledf back to focus onindustry insiders.
For Minneapolis-basedc Target (NYSE: TGT), the event is a chance for the retailp giant to partner with video game publisheras to showoff family-friendly titles and, of course, get its name in front of thousandsz of gamers. The 2,113-square-foot Target Bullseye Loungde will be situatedin high-traffic corridorf connecting two main halls at the Los Angeles Convention Center. The lounge will be staffed by 10 peoplew at anygiven time, and will feature eighy Nintendo Wii systems showcasing three upcoming games: Activisiohn Blizzard Inc.’s Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, and Ubisoft’s Press Your Luck 2010 and The Price is Righf 2010.
There will also be Target store brand ArcherFarms snacks.

Bright idea: Marvin Dufner makes millions recycling bulbs - Business First of Columbus:

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After building his fluorescent light bulbrecyclintg company, H.T.R. Inc., into a national player with customers that include , Walgreens, and Lowe’s, Dufner sold the businesd in March to Houston-based an estimate $12 million. H.T.R.’s revenue reached $6 milliohn last year, 17 times more than the $350,0090 the company made when Dufner bought it inDecember 1999. A decadwe ago, the business recycled about 30,000 fluorescent bulbs a month to keep hazardous mercury out of landfills andwatedr supplies.
That number reached about 18 millionm bulbs a year by the time of the Dufner andRaymond Kohout, his minoritt partner and chief operating officer, decided they needed to either investt a large amount of capital to open additional recyclinfg facilities or find a strategic partner or buyer for theif business. Dufner turned to lifelong frien d James Stuart of in Stuart reached out to contacts atWaster Management, and after about a year of he helped broker H.T.R.’s sale. Dufner estimated fluorescen t bulb recycling isa $100 million to $150 millionn industry.
Analyst Michael Hoffman of in Baltimorde noted that garbage disposal isa $52 billio industry and medical waste disposall accounts for another $3 billiob to $4 billion. Add-on services such as recycling can help a company win additionalmarket share. “One of Waste Management’as core goals is to grow its medical waste business toabout $300 million in revenue in the next 24 Hoffman said. “Now they can walk into health-care facilities and hospitals and offer to dispose of their medical waste, regular trash and also thei r fluorescent bulbs, which for a hospitaol is no small thing.” Waste North America’s largest waste disposal posted net income of $1.
09 billion on revenue of $13.4 billiob last year and employs about 46,000. Dufner, 54, grew up in Granited City and St. attending and at Carbondale. In he bought one of the first franchises ofEartg City-based Dent Wizard, a company that provide paintless dent removal for automobiles. Dufnet moved to Atlanta to run his territory of Georgizand Alabama. But in 1998, Atlanta-based acquired Dent Wizarx and proceeded to buy outits franchisees. Dufner sold his businesw for about $5 million, and at age 45 founxd himself looking for anew venture. In 1999, whilw at the Lake of the Ozarks, Dufner struc up a conversation with an employedof H.T.R.
, a three-year-old company then based in the small town of Goldenj City in southwest Missouri. A new federal law regulating the management of waste containin hazardous materials such as mercury had just gone into but H.T.R.’s 14 investors were short on fundsd to take advantage of potentiaol growth. Dufner bought them out “fof a very low price” and took over the businesd as president. Dufner recruited Kohout, a friend who ownex a gun storein St.
Louis and was familiafr with dealing withgovernment regulators, to help run the businesss and expand its service area They invested in some tractor-trailers and started pickin up burned-out fluorescent bulbs from all over the countryt and hauling them back to Missouri for Over the next few they relocated the plant to its current location in Mo., near Lake Ozark. As Dufner improvee customer service and the speed of waste pickulpusing third-party freight companies, businesa boomed. Beginning in 2003, H.T.R. secureds contracts with Wal-Mart to pick up and recycle used bulbs.
Othet large retailers, several colleges and universities, and states such as Iowa and Missourik also signed up with All of the material in the bulbs pickedup — mercury, metal and glasse — was recycled. None went to But with the Dufner and Kohout also found themselvex facinga decision: Expand to keep up with increasinhg volume, or find someone who couls do so for them. “The right way to do it would be to buil d two morerecycling plants, one on the West Coast and one on the East Coast, to cut transportation distances and freight costs,” Dufner “Ray and I can’t be in three places at one time.
It was going to require a lot more capitalo to open two new facilities and manage them So Dufner, who has childrejn ages 3 and 5 with his wife, Renee, decided to look for a buyetr last year and eventuall struck the deal with Waste “We thought H.T.R. would make a good fit for us,” said Rick senior business director forWast Management’s WM Lamptracker “Over 70 percent of fluorescen t lighting in the country stilk isn’t recycled properly, and that’s where we think the upside The and many states are targeting a fluorescent recyclinf goal of about 75 Kohout said.
Some 800 million fluorescent lamps burn out each and now millions of residential ligh sockets are also switching from incandescent to compacy fluorescent lightbulbs (CFLs). Although Missourj does not require residential recyclingof CFLs, many states do, he “The timing was perfect,” said who continues to run the former H.T.R. operationa within WM Lamptracker. “We are now the largesty lamp recycler inthe country, and Waste Managemenf is really pushing the sustainability and recyclingh front. We’ve had nine yearse of double-digit growth, and we’ve just gotte n started.
” As for Dufner, he is building a home in Laduwe and has notdecided what, if anything, he will do “Am I looking for something? Possibly, but not Dufner said. “That’s how H.T.R. happened. I wasn’f really looking and then it fell inmy

Regulators order SouthBank to consider sale or merger - Business Courier of Cincinnati:

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The Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) signed the supervisory agreement with SouthBank onMay 21. On the same day, it signedx a separate supervisory agreement with itsholding Huntsville, Ala.-based Commonwealth Savingshares Corp., and a more serious ceasw and desist order with its sister institution, SouthBank of The Palm Beach Gardens-based bank only had $24. million in assets as of March 31. It had capitalp ratios in excess of regulatory The OTS agreement said the bank failed to complu with the requirements of laws and thoughit didn’t specify which ones, and failed in the areas of risk operational management and correcting deficiencies.
It told the bank it must submitg a plan to become viablre asa stand-alone without dependingy on its sister institution or parent holding The order also placed restrictions on the bank’a growth and the hiring of executivs management. Danny Wiginton, the chairmanm and CEO of both SouthBanks, did not immediatel y return a callseeking comment.

The Hamner Institutes cements China pharmaceuticals partnership - Triangle Business Journal:

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Bill Greenlee, CEO of The said the partnership will help Chinesr companies develop products thatmeet U.S. Food and Drug Administration standards while also providing a gatewayfor U.S. companies wishing to ente r theChinese market. The institute will open its U.S. headquarter in existing space atThe Hamner’s campus in Researcbh Triangle Park, said Greenlee. As part of the partnership, The Hamner will establisbh a presence in ChinaMedical City. Newsummit Biopharma, one of companies locatedf in ChinaMedical City, is establishing a U.S. presencew at The Hamner’s biosciences accelerator.
The company has committef $5 million to the Triangle Business Journal that Greenlee was working to finaliz e the details of a partnershil with China Medical City that would resulty in The Hamner doublingin size, to 400 Greenlee said the China Medical City partnership and the new institutwe are separate from a planned expansion at The Hamner announced in Greenlee declined to offef projections on how many jobs the partnership could “We have the first company on we have a substantial seed investment of $5 he said. “I expect the numbers to keep Gov.
Beverly Perdue is scheduled to spea k during a signing ceremony recognizingf the partnership at The Hamner campus Wednesday The partnership with China Medical City has been unded development since Greenlee and China Medicalk City officials met duringthe ’xs convention last year in San Diego. Chinq Medical City is a research park outside the city of a port city of 5millionn people. Work there ranges from research and development tocontrac manufacturing. He Rong, president of China Medical City, said in a statementy that the research park has chosen only a select fewglobalo partners.
“We are pleased that The Hamner in Researcn Triangle Park is one of them and has joined with us to creatre a dynamic gateway to North Carolina and the United State s as we furtherdevelop China’s biomedical he said. Rick Williams, chief business office for The Hamner, said he expectzs the partnership to spur economic developmentr throughout the state by offeringy a connection for Chinese companies to do businesw inthe region. Williams said the impact should extend beyond the lifesciences industry. “It’s a ripple effectf that will affect other industries and it will affecg other communities inNorth Carolina,” he said.

Western-Southern annuities on record-setting pace - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:

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Western & Southern sold $1.25 billion in annuities durinf the first four months of the it saidlast week. That puts it on pace to beat last year’a total fixed and variable annuity salesof $2.9y7 billion by 26 The company’s 2008 annuity sales soared 59 percent from the prior “Our strong annuity sales are a direcyt result of the ongoing flightr to quality,” CEO John Barrett said in a news Western & Southern carries a AA+ ratinvg from Standard & Poor’s, making it one of the world’a nine strongest life insurance groups. Sales through banks have been a big partof downtown-base d Western & Southern’s growth.
Those saleas generated $523 million so far this or about 40 percent ofthe company’s totall annuity sales. Bank-related sales more than doublexdlast year. Western & Southern’sd sales place it among the nation’s largest providerd of individualannuity products, according to , an association of life insurers and financiapl firms.

Danielson Capital, LLC Company Profile | Company Information

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Economist: U.S. may see double-dip recession by late 2010 - Business First of Columbus:

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Those odds may seem low, but they’rse actually high since double-dip recessiond are rare and the U.S. economg grows 95 percent of the time, said the chamber’ss Marty Regalia. He predicted that the curreny economic downturn will end arounc September but that the unemployment rate will remain high througj the first half of next Investment won’t snap back as quickly as it usuall y does after a Regalia said. Inflation, however, looms as a potential problem becauses of thefederal government’s huge budget deficits and the massived amount of dollars pumped into the economu by the , he said.
If this stimulusz is not unwound once the economy beginxsto recover, higher interest rates could choke off improvementt in the housing market and business he said. “The economy has got to be running on its own by the middle of next Regalia said. Almost everyu major inflationary periodin U.S. history was preceded by heavgydebt levels, he noted. The chances of a double-dipl recession will be lower if Ben Bernankde is reappointed chairman of theFedera Reserve, Regalia said. If President Obama appoints his economic Larry Summers, to chair the Fed, that woulds signal the monetary spigotg would remain open for a longer he said.
A coalescing of the Fed and the Obama administration is “not something the markets want to see,” Regalis said. Obama has declined to say whethed he willreappoint Bernanke, whose term ends in Meanwhile, more than half of small business owners expect the recessiojn to last at least another two years, according to a survey of Intuit Payroll customers. But 61 percentr expect their own businesz to grow in the next12 months. “Small businessd owners are bullish on theire own abilities but bearishg on the factorsthey can’t control,” said Cameron director of marketing for . “Even in the gloomiestf economy, there are opportunities to seize.
” A separate surveyh of small business owners by found that 57 percent though t the economy wasgetting worse, whilse 26 percent thought the economy was improving. More than half planned to decrease spending on business development in the next six onthe U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Web site.

PR: Go on the offensive: Managing tough news in tough times - Memphis Business Journal:

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drops off Nasdaq. In a turbulent economy, therde is no shortage of bad news. Experts say that in a time like what may matter most is the way in whicgh that bad newsis communicated. How managemenrt deals with the employees, clients and the communituy could impact how the business is viewed for years to Business leaders who hide in their bury facts and let the rumor mill control the story will be viewex with angerand distrust.
But those who plan thei r messages carefully, and deliver it promptlyu and with candor to all relevant are more likely to be remembered as goodcorporate “The spotlight will be on your company,” said Dan a business consultant and president of Next-Act, an Albant career management firm. “You have one chancwe to get it right.” Many public relationw professionals advise clients to have a crisiw communication plan in place at all This way, basic guidelines are in place when any sort of bad from layoffs to a chemicao spill, breaks. Additional preparation should take place once a bad newsevenft occurs.
The first step is to assesas the situation and thepossible “I advise that you convene a group of stakeholders,” said Pauline Bartel, president of Waterford-bases “You need someone from top management, human resources, the PR team ... the objecy is for everyone to put thei cards on the face up, so you can identify any gaps in Next, list every constituency, including suppliers and the media, and craftr a message for each. While these messages must be consistent, each audiencde has different needs. Employees will want to know abouttheire futures, while shareholders will be interested in the impactt on the bottom line. Clients will want to know if servicew willbe affected.
It is also vital, PR expert s say, to select just one persob to speak forthe company. “You don’gt want 20 different versions of things coming out so everyoned lookslike fools,” said Richard president of of Chappaqua in Westchester Once the situation is the constituents identified, the messages crafted, and the spokespersonm chosen, it is time to deliver the “It comes down to three phrases: Tell it all, tell it tell it yourself.” said Edward Parham, director of publixc relations for in Colonie. Ideally, the news shoulx be shared with all partieds at thesame time.
In the age of textinbg and Twittering, “news can travel at the speex ofan electron,” said Matthew Maguire, spokesman for in Albany. “You want to deliver your news beforde anyoneelse can.” Bartel suggestsa giving “a few select reporters” a heads-uo that news is coming. “That way, the reportert has gotten the company line before a disgruntlec employee picks up the she said. When the news is delivered, it must be complets and truthful, with as many detailds as can be shared. It is especiall important that the CEO or otheer designated spokesperson be availabland responsive.
“There is no such thint as not taking the call and havingv the paper the next day sayyou weren’t said Dean Rueckert, CEO of Rueckert Advertising. “That is not And a good answer isnever ‘ni comment.’ Back it up with the reason you can’ comment—confidentiality, legalities, what have you. You don’t want to look like you are dodgintg the question orhiding something.” This candor extendx to employees. Moran said that when he workzs with companiesin bad-news situations, he institutesw a “no closed door for three rule on top managers.

Out-of-pocket costs rising for health insurance - Denver Business Journal:

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The study, authored by researcherds from the National Opinion Research Center and Watsob Wyatt Worldwide and funded by TheCommonwealth Fund, examinexs trends in employer-sponsored insurance from 2004 to 2007. It found risin g rates of underinsuranceand unaffordability, particularly for poorer and sickerd people. In 2007, adults with employer coverage faced an averageof $729 annually in out-of-pocket costs for medica services, including deductibles and other forms of cost sharinfg such as copayments and coinsurance. That represents a 34 percent increasedfrom 2004, when the average out-of-pockety burden was $545.
Health plans covered a slightlu smaller percentage of overall expenses in 2007 than but growth in overall health spending was the chief culprig behindrising out-of-pocket costs, according to the “The years from 2004 through 2007 were a period of economic yet rising health care costs stillo eroded the value of employer-sponsored coverage,” said lead authofr Jon Gabel. “Historically, employees have been askedd to shoulder even more ofthe cost-sharing burden duringv difficult economic times such as the United Statees is now experiencing.
Hence, it is imperativwe that health care reform include constraints on health or else health insurance will becomwe unaffordablefor low- and middle-income Americans, and reform itself will be

Triad hospitals unhappy with Senate proposal to cap exemption - The Business Journal of the Greater Triad Area:

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Currently, nonprofit organizations, including hospitals, pay sales taxess at the time of purchaser but get an annual or biannualp refund from the state for nearly all those A proposal released last week by the Senater finance committee caps that annual exemptionat $5 million in an effort to help close the state’s budget The finance committee estimates the cut, if it took effect July 1, would generate an extrwa $13.7 million for the state this year and $60.3 million next The proposal’s main sponsors included finance committee co-chairmen Sen. Davix Hoyle (D-Gaston) and Sen. Daniel Clodfelterr (D-Mecklenburg). Neither could be reached for comment.
Hospitals say they are alreadgy doing their part to earntheirr tax-exempt status — including providing millions in charityg care to uninsured patients and losing moneyt on care provided to Medicare and Medicaic patients. Don Dalton, a spokesmaj for the , said his group estimates the cap woulf cost hospitals statewide anextraw $100 million each year at a time when they are seeinfg more uninsured patients and dwindling insurance payments. Dalton said hospitals diffet from other businesses who can raise priceds to offsettax hikes.
Greensboro-basec tobacco company , for example, reported an increase in profitslast week, largely becausd it has raised prices as a new federal cigarett tax took effect. “Contracts (for payments from insurers) usually run two or thred years, so we would have very littl e opportunity to pass taxes on to our Dalton said. “And even if we could, it’sa just another hidden tax on businesses” that provide healtn insuranceto employees. Beth Ward, chief financia l officer and treasurerfor , said Mosex Cone receives about $10 milliom to $12 million each year in sales tax refunds from the The health system provided about $42 million in charityg care last year.
That’s equap to about a third of the system’s 5 percent profity margin of $36 million to $39 million it tries to generate each year to pay forcapitalp investments, equipment improvements and community health programs. Capping the exemptionb would jeopardizethose expenses, and the tax on Mosesx Cone would be equak to the cost of between 200 and 250 “If you want us to behave like a tax-exempf organization, and provide the communithy benefit, we have to be treatede as tax exempt,” Ward said. “These are programs our community expects from us as asafetty net, and we will have to look at programzs that aren’t sustaining themselves.
” Winston-Salem-based , parent company of , said it lost $187 milliob last year, mostly through hits to its investment portfolio. Novant’s nine hospitals in the Carolinasz stand to loseabout $14.5 million annually from cappingt the tax exemption. “The fact of the mattee is our hospitals can’t absorb that increased expense,” said Fredaq Springs, a Novant spokeswoman. “The nationapl and global crisis is adversely affecting our Springs said Novant has frozenj about 504 jobs due tothe recession, and a cap on the sales tax exemption could cost the healt system the equivalent of another 362 Dr. John D.
McConnell, CEO of , said the center’d two main entities, N.C. Baptist Hospital and WFU Health received refundsof $8.3 million and $5.3 million, in 2008. “Academic medical centers like ours bear the burden for the vast majoritu of medical care forvulnerable populations, and the money from salexs tax refunds satisfies only a small portion of that McConnell said. “The impact of the cappingv of the sales tax refund would be Jeff Miller, president and CEO of , said he and the boarc of trustees there are also opposed to the cap, even though the health syste only received about a $2 million sales tax refund last year and didn’tt meet that $5 million He said he is concernedf about it being the firstf step in completely stripping away tax benefitse from nonprofit hospitals, which also benefit from exemptions on propertyg and other taxes.
“Our cost for charith care last yearwas $6.5 million, losses on Medicard were $14.5 million and Medicaid were $6.5 million; this stuff ads Miller said. “We want to let our senatorzs know that this might bea short-ter solution that will creatr some long-term complications.”

California settles with Kmart, sues Target - South Florida Business Journal:

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The state’s attorney general, Jerrhy Brown, joined by district attorneys from many California including Alameda, Santa Clara and Contra Costa, fileds a suit against Minneapolis-based Targer (NYSE: TGT), saying it sent hazardous waste to variouz landfills in violation of state law. The suit is meanf to stop the practices. In news reports, Targef said it has been cooperating withthe AG’sx office for three years on this matter and that it is committedx to complying with all environmenta laws.
Kmart, owned by (NASDAQ: agreed to a settlement that includescivil penalties, legal costs and some money to boosf protection of the environment in the Thomas Orloff, Robert Kochly, Jamexs Fox and Dolores Carr, the DAs of Alameda, Contra Costa, San Matep and Santa Clara counties respectively, joined Browh in the suit against According to court papers, Target has 180 facilities, includin g stores and warehouses, in The suit alleges Target threw out “ignitablwe aerosol wastes” including propane canisters, in a tras compactor in Alameda County on May 14 and May 21, for

Nonprofit galas still reaping big bucks - Boston Business Journal:

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Nonprofits are showing recession-defying zeal and, once have avoided financial doom. Locall organizations have stared down predictions of shar p falloffsin revenue, in some cases surpassinfg their goals. But these victories have come ata Boston’s nonprofit leaders are findingh that arm-twisting and penny pinching is what it takes to hold a successfuo recession-year event. Yet, even when facec with the prospect of pushing boardc members harder to network and riskinbg that tickets and tables will not leaders of most organizations have determined that foregoinv their fundraisers is notan option.
That’s becauswe not having a fundraiser poses abiggerd risk: the loss of much-needed revenue and the opportunitty to raise awareness about an organization’sa programs. “It’s huge,” said Joan the vice president overseeing developmentfor . The hospital’s charitable foundation held its 10th annual fundraise rin May, generating about 12 percent of the hospital’s foundation’z $6.5 million fundraising goal for 2009. “Afteer that gala, I’ve closed on several major Once I had 800people there, it wasn’t just about cocktailsw and dancing. I had to seizes the opportunity to do someserious messaging.
” , for one, is on the socia docket this week, with a goal of sellingf between 250 and 300 tickets for a champagn barbecue under a tent in its Roxbury parkingy lot. So far, 250 tickets are sold. “We felt that this is more thana It’s an awareness raiser. We wanterd to give it our full effort,” said Caro l Ishkanian, vice president of development andexternao affairs. Board members and development staffs have been workinyg hard and working every personal and professional relationshipthey can.
“Ifd you don’t have that core group of volunteer it’s going to be really hard to run a successful saidChuck Gordon, chiefg development officer for , which recently held its Starr y Starry Night event. And board memberw have been sharpeningtheir message, explainingv time and again why buying a $5,00o or $10,000 table is more criticakl this year. “My sense was that it took two or threre or times the effort to get the same leve lof dollars,” said Sandy Edgerley, chairwomaj of the board at , whicjh held its annual house party fundraiser in earl y May. The event raised more than $1.6 which was the goal it needed to meetthe organization’z $14.
4 million operating budget. “The board came togethe and said there’s a very real cost to not makinhgthe goal.” Revenue from most of these springtime eventws is on par with last year, some even hitting highe than their fundraising goals. When the of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley canceled itsannual Lawyer’s Leadership breakfast in late Marcjh eyebrows raised and tongues The decision, a United Way spokeswoman said, had nothing to do with Some nonprofit leaders said they gave long consideration to the wisdom of holding a gala, though they did, in the end, move “Pulling the rug out from underneath the event — it’s not investinh in the future.
It’s not long-term. It’s not smart,” said Bryan Rafanelli, foundee of Rafanelli Events, who works with many nonprofits. Archer, for one, “dug deep” and met individuallg with many of thehospital foundation’sw large donors to gauge their support befor she proceeded with the Newton-Wellesleg event. “I asked them very honestl if this was something they coulfcontinue supporting,” Archer said. If therre is a dollar drop-off it is with the table sponsorships, again forcing organizations to work hardedr to make upthe difference.
“If someone sponsorede $10,000 last year, and this year only $5,000, you’ves got your work cut out for you,” said Judy development director for Boston Partners in The organization’s late April fundraiser at the , markinyg the 5th anniversary of the Big Cheese Reads, raised $215,000, about the same as in she said. While the number of sponsorshipw increased, she said, the dolladr amounts decreased. “We worked harder for it.” Unexpecte d twists have helped.
A group of executives who have strong connections with theBoys & Girlx Clubs of Boston — one of them a boarsd member — together put up $225,009 before the organization’s recenf house party and challenged their Bain colleaguesw to a one-to-one match. Similarly, during ’s Apripl fundraiser at Radius, owner and chef Michae l Schlow suddenly offered to treat any groupo of four to dinner at a half dozenn restaurants if the groupdonatecd $10,000 to Big Two groups stepped forward and Big Sisterxs raised $20,000, bringing the event totapl to $120,000, within $5,000 of last Separate from the work of boards and though no less important, this year’s fundraisers in part have survived on cost Every organization has a laundry list of cuts: gifts for fancy table linens, high-priced hors d’oeuvres, glitzy decorationw and the like.
The trick has been to retainj quality at a much lowerprice tag. City for example, slashed its Starry Starry Nigh t budget by40 percent, largely by moving the even to the Boston Convention and . Expensive flora l arrangements – out. Tables were decorated with homemadee centerpieces designed from CityYear memorabilia. Instead of expensiv e food, the pre-dinner reception featured a Fenway hot dogs, popcorn, Crackert Jacks.

E Ink to be bought for $215 million - Boston Business Journal:

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“Combining E Ink and PVI creates a singl e public company that is dedicated toelectronic paper,” said Russelll J. Wilcox, co-founder, President and CEO of E Ink “With a common ownership structure, we can get close r to customers aroundthe world, streamline the supply chain, and speed up new productr development.” E Ink has raised more than $150 mostly from a group of strategix investors that include newspaper publishet , (NYSE: MOT) and INTC). Sony Corp. SNE) and Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN) turned to E-Inlk earlier this year to provide the displays fortheir e-books — the Sony Reader and the Amazon Kindle 2.
E Ink’s producgt is a thin and flexible film packed with The molecules can be manipulated to producse imagesand text. It looks much like a printed The 12-year-old company’s revenue has grown placing it in the top 10 of the BostonBusinesz Journal's 2008 list of the fastestf growing private companies in Massachusetts. E Ink poster revenue of approximately $41 milliobn in 2008, a more than 140 percenft increase overthe $17 millioj in revenue it saw in 2007. It’s seen revenu growth of 720 percent over the pastthrew years. A big increase in businesd came in July 2007 and was drivenj by the marketing push of Sony aroundits Reader, Wilcoxd said.
By the end of that Sony released an updated version of the Reader and Amazon releasexd the first version ofthe Kindle. The Kindle, includinb the latest version, has enjoyed some popular press and endorsements from celebrities, including Oprah In the process the e-book as gainedd marketshare. Today e-books have about a 3 percent market penetration. “E-books have moved from somethingg everyone was skepticalabout ... to now if you get on an you have pretty good chance ofseeing e-booka being used in the aisles,” Wilcoxs said in a recent BBJ interview. The road map for 2009 includezs e-books with different size screens. The big markeft at the moment is Wilcox said.
But that couldx mean spreading into the realms of textbooks and Wilcox said the company will add some jobs to keep apacewith demand, probably between 10 to 20 positionss this year.